Man and Van Marketing Ideas

[Lee Seymour]

Hi All

I have recently set up business as a man with a van and work is starting to come through the door for small house removals and single item moves. I am receiving positive feedback and am looking to expand my customer base by targeting local businesses. I am at the moment trying out email marketing and would really appreciate any tips on how to make this more successful . Any suggestions generally of marketing ideas or niche markets to offer my services and how to most effectively offer them would also be much appreciated.

Kind Regards
Lee

 

[Boxchilli John]

Good morning Lee.

So there are many things you can look at in terms of increasing your brand awareness and also increasing your leads/ sales.

Email is as good a place to start as any. I would also consider getting a website if you don't already have one and also be doing some digital marketing such as social media (Facebook adverts), SEO and Pay Per Click. You could also look at making sure you are in/on all directories both on and offline (think Yellow pages, G+, Foursquare etc).

It is quite a competitive area so make sure you are really geared up from a marketing perspective locally first. This should help you grow the business relatively quickly and successfully.

From the whole BoxChilli digital marketing agency we wish you luck!

 

[naxtech]

Hi Lee,

In relation to email marketing you may find that it works best when done in a very targetted way rather than sending out blanket email.

As you are starting to get business, a good way of getting business is to ask customers to leave reviews on google maps for you, facebook, or wherever else you exist online.

It may also be a good idea to become trading standards approved to gain some trustworthiness.

...just thinking aloud.

 

[Lee Seymour]

Thank you for the great advice. I currently have a website, Facebook page and am listed in various online and offline directories. I am meeting a friend to discuss SEO. Could anybody give any advice on best practice when sending cold emails offering my services.

Kind Regards
Lee

 

[Free.stockphoto.com]

How about searching on Instagram for the locations you service for related hashtags like #movingout #newhome #relocating #newjob and dropping them a DM?

 

[bouncebe]

Hi All

I have recently set up business as a man with a van and work is starting to come through the door for small house removals and single item moves. I am receiving positive feedback and am looking to expand my customer base by targeting local businesses. I am at the moment trying out email marketing and would really appreciate any tips on how to make this more successful . Any suggestions generally of marketing ideas or niche markets to offer my services and how to most effectively offer them would also be much appreciated.

Kind Regards
Lee

How do you currently advertise?

 

[HazelC]

Hiya,

I have found that 'local pages' on your website can really work in your industry. This is where you create one landing page for a service you offer in an exact area. For example I am based in Peterborough so would go for house removals in Hampton, office removals in Hampton, large item removals in Hampton and so on - for all the different services and all the different small local areas as well as the main town / city you are based.

If I haven't explained that right then let me know and I can DM you with an example.

Good Luck

Hazel.

 

[Wood Flooring Guy]

What really helped our wood flooring business was collecting and promoting customer reviews.

It made it much easier for us to win customers once they read our reviews from past customers.

We used a site called Eooro.com, with them you get an app which our floor fitters and sales people have on their phones, this means they can all collect reviews for the business.

We then promote the reviews we collected on our website with a widget thing Eooro provide and to our social media accounts.......very easy.

My one regret is we did not start collecting reviews years ago, its really made a difference to our turnover this last year or so.

Regards
Dave

 

[Sam Bacon]

Setup a Google Adwords campaign to show adverts in a 5 mile radius of you location. Then set up adverts for when people search "house removals" and "single item moves". This way people in your area will be able to call when they need help!

 

[The Byre]

So far - nobody has stated the blindingly obvious -

1. Gumtree!
2. Dirty great big sign on your van!
3. Leafleting your area!

 

[MBE2017]

Used to run my own small removals and courier company, so FWIW ....

Advertise on eBay, Gumtree, colleges and universities, plus local and national on the hundreds of free advertising websites, storage facilities, always get a testimonial, also obtain insurances, plus the ability to allow the client to travel with you, this alone is a great money maker.

I did my business before social media, but could survive just on Facebook these days, unfortunately ill health forced myself to change direction.

Most importantly, charge by the hour to prevent wasting hours on fixed price jobs, get paid in advance and credit back if you can if the job takes less times than thought, always turn up, always be reliable, never quit and never moan, no-one cares. After 50-100 testimonials people ring and ask are you available, rather than how much you charge.

 

[extulsftjz]

We have a Facebook group which covers just part of our town. I would get someone your not friends with to ask for a recommendation then get someone you know to post your details

That said, your competitors might also get something out of it.

 

[Makatan1]

Hey Lee,
I get 10-12 jobs every day for moving sofa disposals, house clearances and waste pickups. I Use adwords and a landing page template that i designed which is super converting. for about 30 clicks from adwords i get 10 calls and it works like clockwork mon-friday. happuy to share with you if you wanna PM me mate. ps what area you in?

 

[roydmoorian]

Getting removals type work is easy using targeted leaflets and pin ups in takeaways....

Charge enough to cover the time spent humping the goods down three flights of stairs to load then back up 5 flights of stairs at the delivery.

Get them to pay you BEFORE you fill your van up with crap which really needs taking to the tip.

 

[Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake]

Local Facebook buy and sell groups. You see this a million times. Get yourself known on there.

"Do you deliver?"

"No, pick up only hun"

 

[Tony Tomlinson]

If I was you i'd do five things:

1 - Park the van when out of use somewhere local to you that has a large influx of traffic during commuting hours (Assuming you have the van printed)

2 - Facebook Facebook Facebook - By far the most effective platform for targeted ads.

3 - Google Maps / Places - Free and when done correctly will give you tons of traffic, point your customers here to leave reviews also.

4 - Hit up local estate agents and ask if they can refer you/stick a notice up in their office, worst they can say is no but if you invent a 'special discount' they may just do it, 20% off removals for customers booking through x estate agents.

5 - Google Adwords - Set up a small PPC campaign covering the mile radious you want ot travel.

 

[Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake]

4 - Hit up local estate agents and ask if they can refer you/stick a notice up in their office, worst they can say is no but if you invent a 'special discount' they may just do it, 20% off removals for customers booking through x estate agents.

Offer the agents a small referral fee, that would make it more attractive to promote.

 

[Tony Tomlinson]

100% would look at doing something with estate agents, referral fee is a great idea.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Advertise on the van you are a man with a van available from £x per mile or £x per hour in clear letters with phone number

Try and buy a box van with load lifter on the back so two can lift heavy items

Have plenty of blankets and tie downs to protect goods

Estate agents often need to find clearance people to clear flats

Local Papers are first call for many people, also as others say leaflets especially council estates

 

[Sorodo]

Talk to letting agents and estate agents. Maybe offer a referral scheme with them? They are at the forefront of knowledge for who is moving etc. maybe a good call?

 

[J2DHS]

Hi Lee,

Sorodo's suggestion is a great idea - getting right in front of your ideal customers!

Makatan's suggestion for Adwords would be a good idea for your area too - try and use Google's Keyword Tool to find out how many people search for "YourTown Removals" or something similar, and if there's a decent number of searches and a low-ish level of competition then consider creating an ad for those search terms. You'll only pay when someone clicks, so it's quite a good strategy.

I'd also suggest using Facebook ads to expand your reach locally.

The targeting on Facebook ads is incredibly specific!

You can set up a radius around your town that serves as the area you cover.

Then get specific about who your target customer is.

You can specify age, gender, income level, whether they're a home owner or a renter, what their hobbies are...and much more!

I'd suggest targeting everyone 18 - 65 to start, including homeowners and renters within your area, and then let it run for 3 - 5 days paying £5 a day.

It may sound a lot, but it'll give you a great idea of whether it's working, and you can optimise it as you go.

I ran a similar campaign for a local plasterer a few weeks ago and a £10 investment got him 16 leads. 0.60p per potential customer.

Much cheaper than printing hundreds of leaflets and hoping it falls into the hands of your ideal customer

Good luck!

Jamie